Trap shooter&#39;s cartridge holder



Dec.- 25, 1962 N. W- WARMAN TRAP SHOOTERS CARTRIDGE HOLDER Filed Dec.14, 1959 lNVENT-OR.

NA THAN W WAEMA/V BY a 1 Unite States Patent G 3,070,272 TRAP SHOOTERCARTRIDGE HOLDER Nathan W. Warrnan, 946 W. 50th St., Los Angeles, Calif.Filed Dec. 14, 1959, Ser. No. 359,506 3 Claims. (Cl. 22415) Thisinvention relates to the sport of trap-shooting in Which clay pigeonsare sprung from a trap and instantly rise in the air at high speed inimitation of the flight of a real bird when flushed.

The clay pigeon of couse, is composed of clay and is readily broken bythe shot from the gun in the hands of the trap-shooter.

In practice the shooter usually takes a succession of shots at thebirds, and the shooter may signal to the man operating the trap toannounce when he is ready for the bird to be sprung.

In a shooting contest the participants may be required to shoot in rapidsuccession at the birds as they are sprung with a certain lapse of ashort period of time between the successive flights of the birds; all ofwhich constitutes ample reason for having the cartridges the shooter isUsing held convenient to the hand that will reload his gun promptly andbe ready for what will presently happen.

Accordingly, a principal object of this invention is to provide a holderto be carried by the shooter with a liberal supply of cartridges readilyaccessible to his hand for the oft repeated loading operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide the cartridge holder withelements cooperating to attain the result of utilizing gravity toconstantly advance the cartridges to an outlet or delivery point fromthe holder; and to accomplish this, to provide means whereby thecartridges approaching the delivery point are clearly in view, therebyapprising the shooter as to the possible exhausting of the supply ofcartridges in the holder.

To be more specific as to this feature it is an object to provide meansfor supporting the cartridge holder, normally near his waist line, whilelocated toward his right side if he is a right-handed person; or towardhis left side if he is a left-handed shooter.

Further objects of the invention will become evident from reading thepresent specification, and a study of the accompanying drawing.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combination of parts to bedescribed hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an eflicientTrap Shooters Car.- tridge Holder.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the followingspecification, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical section taken in the plane of the line 1-1 ofFIGURE 2 through a holder embodying the invention, also illustrating theforward portion of a belt assumed to be located at or about the waistline of the person carrying the cartridge holder. In this view thecartridge holder is shown as though held toward the left side of theshooter, which is the position it should have when being used by a righthanded man. This view also shows part of a row of cartridges with one ofthem in dotted lines, as though about to be removed.

FIGURE 2 is a plan of the holder in its normal tilted or cockedposition, as viewed from above, projected upon a horizontal plane. Thisview in dotted lines shows an open hand being applied to a cartridge inthe position it would have when being removed from the holder.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view, and is of the right end of the cubiclebox-form body of the holder, the upper portion of which is broken away.

Referring more particularly to the parts, and especially to FIGURES 1and 2, the holder 1 for the cartridges 2 has the form of a cubicle orbox with an open upper end 3, and it presents two relatively wide sidewalls 4 and 4a connected together by two relatively narrow end Walls 5and 6.

The side walls 4 and 4a are spaced apart a distance slightly greaterthan the length of the cartridges that are -to be used in the holder 1,so that the ends of the cartridges lie just inside the side walls. Whenthe holder is filled with cartridges they are disposed in tiers such asthe tier 7 shown in FIGURE 1. The axes of the cartridges are parallel tothe plane of the end walls 5 and 6, and the brass firing heads 8 inevery tier or row, at either end wall are laid alternately between thewad ends 9 of the cartridges.

This arrangement is not essential but is preferable because that is theway the cartridges are arranged in their cartons or cardboard boxes fromwhich they are transferred in a batch all at once into the holder 1, aswill be explained presently.

In order to enable the body 1 to be supported in a cocked or tiltedposition, as shown in the drawing, for a right-handed man the wall 4 isplaced against the gunners front side and toward his right side.

The forward face of the forward wall 4a of the holder will have beenpreviously provided with means fixed to it, for engaging and riding onthe upper edge of a belt 10 of leather or other suitable materialextending around the gunners waist and preferably provided with a buckle(not illustrated) for the setting of the belt comfortably tight on thegunners body. For this purpose it is preferable to provide two flatmetal hooks 11 having integral abutments 12 riveted to the wall 4a, andthese hooks have relatively long bills 13 that overlie the belt 10, andwhich, for convenience, may lie located adjacent the end walls 5 and 6,and lie parallel with the same.

In addition to the belt 10, the end walls 5 and 6 may carry anchoringrings 14 with integral feet 15 riveted tothe Walls 5 and 6. They carryloops 16 shown in FIG- URE l on the ends 17 of a sling, indicated indotted lines, that hangs over the gunners shoulder (not illustrated).The sling carries most of the weight of the cartridges, which isconsiderable when the holder is full of cartridges.

All of the cartridges in the holder 1 are shot cartridges supported by abottom guide-wall 18 that in the present instance is supported at itsrear end on an angle bracket 19 riveted to the lower edge of the rearend wall 6, and to the rear end of the guide wall 18.

This bottom guide wall 18 is relatively thin, but is composed of springsteel so that it will yield downwardly if pressed down by a force actingat or near its tip 20 which is free unattached to any part.

The guide wall 18 has an integral flange 21 that ex tends up against oneof the flanges of the angle bracket clip '19 and is clamped and rivetedinto place between the bracket and the lower edge of the rear Wall 6.

By reason of tilt of the holder 1 any cartridge 2 on the bottom guidewall 18 will be biased to gravitate and roll down the guide wall towardan outlet point 22 near the tip 20, but all the cartridges in the lowesttier 7 will be normally detained by a gate 23 (see FIGURES l and 3).This gate normally obstructs the outlets and as illustrated in FIGURE 1is attached by two hinge connections 24 to the lower edge of the wall 5.They have a common spindle or shaft 25 mounted in bearings 26 riveted tothe lower edge of the wall 5, and carrying hangers 27 pinned to them at28 as shown in FIGURE 3. The wings of the hangers are riveted to theupper edge of the gate 23 as shown in FIGURE 3.

Two coil springs 29 carried centered on the spindle 25 and fixed at oneend to it, have straight extensions 30 at their other end that pressagainst the lower end of the end wall 5.

The side walls 4 and 4a of the cartridge holder near the outlet point 22are constructed so as to leave the ends of nearest cartridge 2 to thegate 23 exposed on its ends. This enables the gunners right hand 31 tobe applied as indicated in FIGURE 2 by placing his thumb against one endof the cartridge, and his forefinger against its other end. With thisgrasp he can pull the cartridge down through the outlet 32, eifecting adepression of the tip 20 of the guide wall, and also swinging the gate23 outwardly on its hinges, as indicated in dotted lines in FIGURE 1.The outline 32 of the cartridge 2 in this movement is also shown inFIGURE 1.

While the exposing of the ends of the cartridge that is at the outlet22, and ready to be removed could be accomplished by making a holethrough each side Wall 4 and 4a, at the proper points, it is preferablyto accomplish this effect by placing the bottom guide wall or tongue 18at a sufficiently low level below the lower edge 33. This expedientmakes all of the cartridges in the bottom tier in the holder accessibleto the gunners hand and incidentally slightly reduces the weight of theholder.

As indicated in FIGURES 2 and 3 the bottom guide wall or tongue 18 maybe made much narrower than the width of the cartridge holder.

Another feature of the cartridge holder concerns the facility with whichthe entire contents of a cartridge box or carton may be quicklytransferred to the holder.

In order to do this it is expedient to make the inside dimensions of theholder slightly greater than the outside dimensions of the cartridgecarton.

The procedure then is to invert the empty holder 1 and telescope it downover the open carton that is full of the cartridges arranged in tiers.The next move is to invert the combined carton and holder. This bringsthe entire load of cartridges onto the bottom guide wall 18; and thecarton can then be lifted off of the holder.

In order to reinforce the connection between the bottom guide tongue 18and the angle bracket 19 a small angle clip 34 may be riveted or spotwelded into the position where it is shown in FIGURE 1. And it isobvious that in all the riveted connections described spot welding couldbe used.

Although this cartridge holder probably has the greatest field ofusefulness in trapshooting, it is of course, also admirably adapted foruse by hunters of game birds, such as wild ducks, quail and grouse.

As there may be a tendency for a heavily loaded holder to sag away fromthe gunner carrying it, an additional object of my invention is toprovide means for preventing that occurrence. This means involves theuse of a fend 35 (see FIGURE 2).

This fend may be made of a length of strap metal about one half inch inwidth. It has integral pads 36 and 37 at its ends to be riveted or spotwelded to the outer side of the wall-4. The pad 36 shown at the left isformed merely by bending the end of the stock used for the fend at aslight angle to fit flatly against the face of the wall 4. At the otherend a similar pad 37 is formed but it is formed integrally with a shortextension 38 of 4 the stock that holds the body of the fend at this enddisplaced outwardly, thereby compensating for any outward sag of theupper part of the body of the holder.

Many other embodiments of this invention may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a trap shooters holder for shot shell cartridges, a box formcontainer for the cartridges with a pair of side walls in a verticalplane, a rear wall connecting the same, and a front wall connecting thesame at the front; a bottom guide wall connected to the rear wall forcarrying a tier of the cartridges, and down which the cartridges rollwhen the holder is inclined, said front wall having an outlet to whichthe bottom guide wall delivers the cartridges, said vertical side wallslying spaced apart suflicien-tly to be adjacent the ends of thecartridges in the holder so as to guide the tier of cartridges as theyroll down the bottom guide wall, a gate accessible to the shooters handextending across and barring the outlet, means for biasing the gatetowards its closed position, the lower edge of a side wall of the holderextending parallel to the bottom guide wall and is located above thebottom, and also located below the upper edges of the cartridges in thelowest tier carried in the holder, thereby rendering the foremost of thecartridges in that tier accessible to the trap shooters hand.

2. A trap shooters holder for shot shell cartridges, according to claim1, in which the bottom guide wall is in the form of a tongue connectedto the lower portion of the rear wall and projecting toward the gate,with the tip of the tongue located adjacent to the gate, and in whichthe edges of both the said side walls extend about parallel to the sideedges of said tongue, and are located above the level of the tongue soas to enable both ends of the lowest cartridge supported on the tonguebut below the upper edges of the cartridges in the lowest tier, to beaccessible to the shooters fingers.

3. A trap shooters holder for shot shell cartridges, according to claim1, including means for supporting the holder on the trap shooters bodyso that the said bottom guide wall will be constantly maintained in itsproper inclined position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 49,420L-aidley Aug. 15, 1865 152,136 MacConnell June 16, 1874 372,181 SpeedOct. 25, 1887 574,531 Ferguson Jan. 5, 1897 1,345,864 Lethern July 6,1920 1,455,803 Nofsinger May 22, 1923 1,576,010 Swartz Mar. 9, 19261,896,430 Stanawitz Feb. 7, 1933 2,503,741 Johnson Apr. 11, 19502,837,258 Williams June 3, 1958 2,908,432 Kent Oct. 13, 1959 FOREIGNPATENTS 56,430 Germany Oct. 26, 1890

